The Man Who Fell to Earth (Del Rey Impact)

Book Description

T.J. Newton is an extraterrestrial who goes to Earth on a desperate mission of mercy. But instead of aid, Newton discovers loneliness and despair that ultimately ends in tragedy.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant, relevant...and very lonely.......2007-08-27

This a deceptively simple story, told in simple, uncomplicated prose, but with unexpected depth and relevance. It might come off as slightly trite now, as with most mid-20th century fiction set in "the near future" (the late 1980s, of all things!), but I'm sure in 1963 it was truly a sign of the times. What I'm sure hasn't lost its charge over the years is the tint of sadness, of individualized despair, that permeates the book and ultimately embitters the characters. No one escapes their self-destructive fears - not the American government, not the curious scientist, and most especially not the titular visitor who comes to save his world but can't even save himself. The film version, starring David Bowie, is far more surreal and symbolically charged (and, as with any Nicholas Roeg film, obsessed with sexuality), but the plot is very very similar, and anyone who enjoys one version of the tale should enjoy the other. Definitely recommended!

Good in this Genre.......2006-08-01

As most of the reviewers on this page accurately describe and seem to appreciate, the Sci-Fi elements in this book are subtle and cerebral. There are no silver bodysuits, foil helmets, or strange secret weapons in this book (in fact, the alien protagonist threatens the possession of the latter, but he was only fooling). Instead, the ET life form in this book is just different enough from you and me to still be human but to be a metaphor for the outcast. He is a human, although we learn that his anatomy has enough quirks to make him different and vulnerable. He seems to possess attributes for any variety of self-aware nonconformist (alcoholic, sexually ambiguous, artsy, and socially and intellectually superior while also utterly confused by the society around him - in other words, Truman Capote with reptilian eyes).

The story in a nutshell: alien comes to Earth to fulfill a plan to save the 'people' on his own dying planet. The plan requires him to work with Earthlings using his technology and their materials and labor. The plan starts, like all well-executed plans, with capital financing and good legal counsel. Plan is facilitated by gin-soaked hillbilly woman, savvy patent lawyer, and insightful scientist. Plan is frustrated by gin-soaked alien, bumbling government agents, and a humanly lack of committment to mission. Tale ends with alien moving to Greenwich Village, wearing a big hat, and writing poetry.

This book is not a work of genius, and it's not great science fiction. It is a bit dated, being one of the hundreds of its type that came out in the mid-Cold War era. Its events take place in the unimaginable "future" of the 1980's. Tevis spares us from too many future-world wonders. The government of the US is largely the same as it existed in Tevis' world, as are cars, drinks, media, and air transportation (save for the apparent commonality of space travel). Apart from "coffee pills" there are no scenes like people traveling by personal jet-pack or being operated on by robots.

Overall very enjoyable and worth the praise that it has received on this page. For me, not as mind-bending as Bradbury or Heinlein, and not as pulse-pounding as Finney.

A Sci Fi classic that probably you've not read..........2006-07-19

This is an amazing story. An alien comes to Earth to save it and his race. Will he succeed?

I have a vague recollection of seeing the original movie, and I know I haven't seen the most recent with David Bowie. I don't remember the movie ending the way the book does. Could be my memory!

The Man Who Fell to Earth doesn't need ray guns, explosions, and tentacles. It is absorbing, engaging, and... surprising.

Put this one on your must read list whether you are a fan of the sci fi genre or not.

Responce.......2004-03-19

"The Man Who Fell To Earth, June 5, 2003
Reviewer: A reader from California "
I would just like to comment on what you said, I must agree with just about everything you said.

And with your words about the movie, I believe this was David Bowie's was the perfect, PERFECT role and he is exscatly how I pictured him looking and acting in my mind! Other than that..The sex sence almost made me want to cry, they had the chance to make a wonderful film, {do not get me wrong, the editing was amazing photography wise} and they turned it into a soft porno.

Amazing!.......2004-03-19

I read this book about a month ago, and still it lingers with me. I am not going to go into deatil about the book, becuase I am sure enough, you know the plot line already. Yes, there is only 200 pages, but It is not a easy read. If easy read means, the the words were bigger and huge science words were not involved , then yes..it was an easy read...but don;t judge a book by it's cover. The plot is orginal and complelling.

This book is not for everyone, but I do recomind it for all people. It IS in fact the best book I have EVER read in my life, and I have read a lot of books. This touched something in my heart, and even though it is the revised version of the book, it still has the style and emotion it orignally had.

Book Description

In 1908 an atmospheric explosion in northern Siberia released energy equivalent to 15 Mton of TNT. Can a comparable or larger NEO affect us again? When the next NEO strikes Earth will it be large enough to destroy a city? Will the climate change significantly? Can archaeology and anthropology provide insights into the expected cultural responses with NEO interactions? Does society have a true grasp of the actual risks involved? Is the Great Depression a good model for the economic collapse that could follow a NEO catastrophe? This volume provides a necessary link between various disciplines and comet/asteroid impacts.

Customer Reviews:

Must Have Book to Understand Asteroid Impact Consequences.......2007-04-20

The Bobrowsky edited book is an excellent must-read book for anyone conducting serious intellectual inquiry into a potential asteroid impact with the Earth. The articles are a wonderful collection on a very serious topic. The reader gains multiple insights on the varied interdisciplinary issues related to asteroids. This is a fine contribution to the current state of knowledge. The book would make for an excellent university text in either astronomy or public policy agenda-setting and formulation. I highly recommend the investment in this book if you have serious interest in the history of asteroid/comet impacts as well as what humans may do to mitigate such a disaster in the future. I believe this book to be the best I have read on the topic of asteroids impacts. I am pleased to have added it to my personal library.

Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth (New Catalyst Bioregional Series)

Average customer rating:

Interesting and important piece of work
The book that started the ball rolling
A must reading for anyone worried about the Earth's biosphere.
Running Out of Room: Economists' Viewpoint
Essential reading for understanding "sustainability"

Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth (New Catalyst Bioregional Series)
Williams E. Rees , and Mathis Wackernagel
Manufacturer: New Society Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 086571312X

Book Description

Our Ecological Footprint presents an internationally-acclaimed tool for measuring and visualizing the resources required to sustain our households, communities, regions and nations, converting the seemingly complex concepts of carrying capacity, resource-use, waste-disposal and the like into a graphic form that everyone can grasp and use. An excellent handbook for community activists, planners, teachers, students and policy makers.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting and important piece of work.......2007-08-12

Our Ecological Footprint cuts through the talk about sustainability and introduces a revolutionary new way to determine humanity's impact on the Earth. It presents an exciting and powerful tool for measuring and visualizing the resources required to sustain our household, communities, regions and nations. Equipped with useful charts and throught-provoking illustrations, our Ecological Footprint converts the seemingly complex concepts of carrying capacity, sustainability, resource use, waste disposal, and more into a graphic form that everyone can grasp and utilize.

The book that started the ball rolling.......2007-04-04

Back when Rees and Wackernagel wrote Our Ecological Footprint, no one was looking at the problem in that way.

Now that everyone has jumped on the "our-planet-is-finite" bandwagon, we need to be reminded that this is where it started.

Much research has been done since it came out, and some of the figures will no doubt be out of date, but it still belongs in every environmentally conscious person's collection. Buy it while you can!

G. Bisaillon

A must reading for anyone worried about the Earth's biosphere........2005-08-13

During the past half a century human beings have been
multiplying at such a rate that the number of humans on Earth has
more than TRIPPLED ! Also, the "well to do" section of humanity has been increasing constantly their desire to have a bigger and bigger share of Erth's "goodies". The unfortunate result of these two factors has DEVESTATED the Earth's environment to the point of collapse. This book, which is written in a language which anyone can understand clearly, gives an excellent account of such important items like "true sustainability", HUMAN footprint on the biosphere, and what will happen if we all do not start realizing that we have already exceeded the Earth's capacity to carry us by 200 to 300 % !! So, please READ IT !

Running Out of Room: Economists' Viewpoint.......2004-10-14

This book is about the environmental costs that humans have on our planet, especially those humans living in developed countries. The authors contend that we are using up the resources of the planet at an astounding rate, such that little will be left for generations of the future. In other words, our present lifestyle is unsustainable. The authors argue that a measure of sustainability can be calculated by adding up the resources used by a group of people, and translating this to area on the earth, which yields roughly the total amount of land needed by the group to live sustainably, or their "ecological footprint". They point out that people in developed countries tend to have much larger ecological footprints than those in developing countries, but even amongst developed countries, there are large differences, and that Americans have huge ecological footprints compared to people from most other countries. In fact, in order for everyone on Earth to live as Americans do, it would require several additional planets to provide the resources and disposal space for waste.

The beginning chapters of the book define sustainability and the concept of ecological footprint. They also argue that our present practices are not sustainable. In the third chapter, we find the general idea of how an ecological footprint can be calculated, and the types of resources that need to be accounted for. The authors also run through a few examples of how footprints can be calculated on a nation by nation basis. They don't claim to have developed a conclusive method for calculating ecological footprints, especially on an individual basis, though they invite interested readers to do so on their own (there are numerous suggestions for how to do so on the Web). The last part of the book suggests some possible strategies for creating a more sustainable world. Endnotes citing sources appear following each chapter. There is a glossary, but no index. The book includes a number of black-and-white illustrations and cartoons.

The authors argue that "The strength of the Ecological Footprint analysis is its ability to communicate simply and graphically the general nature and magnitude of the biophysical `connectedness' between humankind and the ecosphere." They go on to comment "Ecological Footprint analysis can estimate the balance of trade in load-bearing capacity as embodied in the energy and material flows associated with trade goods and biogeochemical cycles." These ideas are interesting and hefty- -the text is somewhat theoretical and aimed towards those who are fascinated with macroeconomics. The style of writing is not for everyone, but there are some very valid points to mull over. For example, in a box discussing efficiency gains and sustainability, the authors point out that in the past, efficiency gains have led to more consumption rather than a decrease in resource usage, so we can't rely on efficiency gains as a solution to over-consumption.

Essential reading for understanding "sustainability".......2004-07-15

I believe this important book is the first to supply a method for individuals and societies to get a quantitative understanding of what "sustainable" really means. Footprinting allows families, cities, and countries to analyze their "ecological budget", and to learn to live within their fair share of available natural resources. The wonderful cartoons convey key concepts brilliantly, and make a potentially heavy text more fun to read.

Average customer rating:

A fresh and balanced presentation.

Human Impacts on Weather and Climate
William R. Cotton , and Sr., Roger A. Pielke
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521600561

Book Description

This new edition of Human Impacts on Weather and Climate examines the scientific and political debates surrounding anthropogenic impacts on the Earth’s climate and presents the most recent theories, data and modeling studies. The book discusses the concepts behind deliberate human attempts to modify the weather through cloud seeding, as well as inadvertent modification of weather and climate on the regional scale. The natural variability of weather and climate greatly complicates our ability to determine a clear cause-and-effect relationship to human activity. The authors describe the basic theories and critique them in simple and accessible terms. This fully revised edition will be a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate courses in atmospheric and environmental science, and will also appeal to policy makers and general readers interested in how humans are affecting the global climate.

Customer Reviews:

A fresh and balanced presentation........2000-08-17

I find this book an outstanding introduction to issues related to human impact on weather and climate. Authors elected to divide the discussion into three main parts, dictated primarily by the scale of perturbation. The first part deals with some of the most striking examples of controlled human impact on weather: modification of clouds, hail suppression and modification of tropical cyclones. The presentation is clear, with many interesting historical and technical details and is inspirational for people interested in cloud processes. The second part shows that humankind modified already weather and climate at local and regional scale. Such human impacts are: anthropogenic emissions of aerosols and gases, urban induced changes in precipitation and weather, and impacts caused by land use. Authors did a good job is showing that regional scale atmospheric perturbations are by far the most intense and have clear fingerprints in observations as well as in numerical models. Finally, the third part has a broad presentation of human impact on global climate. This is well illustrated with climatic effects of anthropogenic aerosols, possible nuclear winter scenarios, and with the greenhouse theory. I think students as well as a broad spectrum of readers interested in Earth sciences will benefit from reading this book.

The Angry Earth: Disaster in Anthropological Perspective

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The Angry Earth: Disaster in Anthropological Perspective
Oliver-Smith
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0415919878

Book Description

From hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes to oil spills and nuclear accidents, natural and technological disasters have become increasingly frequent and destructive across the planet. This ground-breaking collection of essays explores how various cultures in different historical moments have responded to calamity, offering new insights into the complex relationship between society and environment. Through case studies of communities in Great Britain, the Mediterranean, Asia and the Americas, contributors examine issues ranging from the social and political factors that set the stage for disaster, to the cultural processes experienced by survivors, to the long-term impact of disasters on culture and society.

Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions

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Every educated person
Science and Humanity
Volcanoes in Human History
Living Under The Volcano
Fascinating history, plenty of facts I didn't know about.

Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions
Jelle Zeilinga de Boer , and Donald Theodore Sanders
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0691118388

Amazon.com

In 1815, Napoleon's armies fell to defeat at Waterloo, a clash that would change the course of world events. Far more Europeans died that year, though, as a result of a volcanic explosion in Indonesia--one cataclysmic eruption among the many that figure in this sidelong view of the Earth's history.

The explosion of Tambora in April 1815, geologists de Boer and Sanders write, sent a plume of volcanic ash high into the planet's atmosphere, bringing on a "nuclear winter" that devastated crops in the northern hemisphere, yielding famine and plague. Moreover, they add, the explosion cast a hazy pall over much of Europe, a gloom that inspired Mary Shelley to write her famed novel, Frankenstein. Another explosion, more than 3,000 years earlier, pulverized the Mediterranean island of Thera, giving rise to the legend of Atlantis and causing whole civilizations to collapse. Still another eruption on the island of Tristan da Cunha, in 1961, "brought [the 20th century] to this most isolated of the earth's inhabited places."

The authors' overview of nature's ability to thwart human intentions makes for fascinating reading, sure to appeal to fans of Perils of a Restless Planet, Surviving Galeras, and other chronicles of the trembling earth. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

When the volcano Tambora erupted in Indonesia in 1815, as many as 100,000 people perished as a result of the blast and an ensuing famine caused by the destruction of rice fields on Sumbawa and neighboring islands. Gases and dust particles ejected into the atmosphere changed weather patterns around the world, resulting in the infamous ''year without a summer'' in North America, food riots in Europe, and a widespread cholera epidemic. And the gloomy weather inspired Mary Shelley to write the gothic novel Frankenstein.

This book tells the story of nine such epic volcanic events, explaining the related geology for the general reader and exploring the myriad ways in which the earth's volcanism has affected human history. Zeilinga de Boer and Sanders describe in depth how volcanic activity has had long-lasting effects on societies, cultures, and the environment. After introducing the origins and mechanisms of volcanism, the authors draw on ancient as well as modern accounts--from folklore to poetry and from philosophy to literature. Beginning with the Bronze Age eruption that caused the demise of Minoan Crete, the book tells the human and geological stories of eruptions of such volcanoes as Vesuvius, Krakatau, Mount Pelée, and Tristan da Cunha. Along the way, it shows how volcanism shaped religion in Hawaii, permeated Icelandic mythology and literature, caused widespread population migrations, and spurred scientific discovery.

From the prodigious eruption of Thera more than 3,600 years ago to the relative burp of Mount St. Helens in 1980, the results of volcanism attest to the enduring connections between geology and human destiny.

Customer Reviews:

Every educated person.......2005-06-26

The messages of this work are necessary for every educated person, and this book delivers its messages notably well.

As soon as a person begins to become educated so as to have some sense of one's place in time and space, and cause and effect, one's perception of things, and the awareness of the interconnectedness of things becomes compelling, and utterly fascinating.

This is the stuff of Volcanoes in Human History. This book is wonderfully accessible to any reasonably intelligent reader because it is brief and the text is clear and readable. If one is new to earth science, this book will educate him or her about the subject at hand, and will provide fascinating examples of dramatic geological events and their sometimes long lasting effects -- what they call the vibrating string.

Most people know at least something about Pompeii, many have at least heard of Krakatau, and all Americans know about Mt St Helens. But few readers will probably have heard before about Tambora and its virtually worldwide effects, or about a place call Toba, whose prehistoric eruption perhaps nearly extinquished the human species.

I highly recommend this book, and give thanks to the authors, Jelle Zeilinga de Boer (whose name is guaranteed to wake up your spell checker) and Donald Theodore Sanders for bringing it to us.

Science and Humanity.......2003-03-13

This book is written in a clear and engaging style that conveys a scientific understanding of vulcanoloy and the consequences, both positive and negative, of volcanic activity on human life and society.

The authors incorporate a discussion of the physical processes that drive volcanic activity with vivid descriptions of historic eruptions. The book includes nine well-chosen case studies that highight differences in type, intensity and effects of eruption. The authors vividly describe the effects of volcanic eruptions on natural and human environments, human history and human behavior. Throughout the book are highly explanatory yet simple illustrations of the natural processes at work and the specific volcanoes under study.

The authors convey the inspiring power of volcanic acitivity and place natural and human impacts within short and long-term perspectives. This book is clear and informative science coupled with thought provoking history and engaging human interest.

From plate tectonics and environmental impact, to entertaining stories of the effects of volcanic eruptions on art and literature or the creation of mythology, to thought-provoking effects on human life, migration and economic decline - its all here.

Volcanoes in Human History.......2002-11-04

Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions written by Jelle Zeilinga de Boer and Donald Theodore Sanders is an engaging book about the awesome power of volcanoes its effects and how volcanoes are born. This book takes the reader on a short journey through time as we explore the origins and mechanisms of volcanism and shoing us how this affected human history, societies, cultures, and the environment.

This book explores nine volcanic eruptions, diccussing the geological setting in terms of plate tectonics; the theory that virtually rigid segments of the earth's crust move about over a less rigid layer and collide, and that the collisions give rise to earthquakes and volcanic activity. Then the book goes over the human terms following the aftereffects of volcanic eruption.

Volcanism is the surface manifestation of a living earth, the author likens a volcanic eruption as the plucking of a long tight-stretched string representing time: when the string is plucked it vibrates. Where the string is plucked is the volcanic activity or eruption where a great deal of energy is being released, the vibrations will have high amplitudes and short wavelengths. These vibrations will be powerful, but only last for a short time. But, as the vibration flows down the string (time), the amplitudes will decrease and the wavelengths increase, whithat the aftereffects will become less intense and they will last longer. The eruption will last days, volcanic aftereffects will last months, Climate change, Famine, epidemics, diaspora will last years; Economic and ecologic revival will last decades, and cultural effects will last centuries.

The books narrative is easy to read and is very understandable making this subject easy to understand. Most of us see a volcano erupt on the news and that is all we know until the news shows us another eruption. What we are not given is the far-reaching effects of what is really happening within the earth. Volcanism is the earth's way of renewing itself and releaving the tremendous pressures from deep within.

Reading this book will give the reader a greater appreciation about what really goes on, on the earth we walk upon. As the population of the earth increases, the effects of volcanism will be magnified, it is crucial that we understand the origin of volcanism as well as the devastation it can cause, and the aftereffects, for good or ill, that can linger for years, even decades, to come.

This is an incrediblly well-told story that is informative but nontechinical.

Living Under The Volcano.......2002-08-17

We are used to having to deal with changes in the weather, but twenty years ago, meteorologists were having to deal with a new atmospheric manifestation. Mount Saint Helens had blown up in the state of Washington, and had affected air quality, air travel, and emotions in the region, and had world-wide weather consequences. It certainly was not the first time a volcano shaped the weather, for volcanoes have had major effects on weather and even history. _Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions_ (Princeton University Press) by Jelle Zeilinga de Boer and Donald Theodore Sanders takes nine famous or obscure volcanoes and demonstrates that volcanoes are an active part of our lives.

Surprisingly, volcanic effects are not all bad. Volcanic soils are very fertile, and we use plenty of minerals of volcanic origin. The gases from volcanoes made the Earth's atmosphere before photosynthesis took over. Many geologists think that all the water on earth was originally released by volcanoes. The book shows a very interesting aspect of Hawaii, in that it is in the middle of the Pacific plate, not near the edges where the plates are barging into each other and which are the usual sites of volcanic activity. The plate carrying the islands is floating slowly over a particular hotspot, which pokes up as the plate floats over it, and gives rise to the familiar Hawaiian Island chain. Iceland is on such a hotspot, too, and besides that, it straddles the Mid-Atlantic ridge, where the ocean floor is being split apart as the plates separate at about two centimeters a year. The Bronze Age eruption of Thera in the Mediterranean directly weakened Crete, which permitted the Greeks to expand into the area; Mycenaean Greece was given the boost that made it the ancestor of classical Greece, with incalculable effects on the entire Western civilization ever since. Mount Pelée's explosion in Martinique in 1902 stopped an election that would have furthered the political advancement of black and mixed-race people on the island, and throughout the French colonies. The list of contingencies is fascinating.

All of the volcanoes described here are still active; we have not heard the last of them, and perhaps there is someday going to be a blast like that in Toba in the Pacific 74,000 years ago, which was thousands of times bigger than Mount St. Helens, and may have affected human evolution. This surprising, informative book is a useful look at how volcanoes effect land, sea, humans, and society. Even those of us not under the shadow of a volcano are living in the volcano zone.

Fascinating history, plenty of facts I didn't know about........2002-05-07

I got this book to read more about the various volcanic eruptions I'd always heard of. You get a lot of detail and history about eruptions in Iceland, Hawaii, Europe and the Pacific, much of it I hadn't seen before. I didn't know most of the details given about Krakatau (usually spelled incorrectly as Krakatoa)such as weather effects and how far away the blast was heard. Did you know that people close to Mount St. Helens did not hear the blast,due to the way the sound carried, they only felt it?. That's an example of the level of detail given to the various examples of eruptions given. My one real complaint is that all measurements are given in metric format with only a small conversion table given in the preface to help people like me out. This book is well worth reading for anyone at all interested in volcanic eruptions.

Facing the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness and Response in the United States

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Facing the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness and Response in the United States
Kathleen J. Tierney , Michael K. Lindell , Ronald W. Perry , Ronald, W. Perry , Kathleen, J. Tierney , and Michael, K. Lindell
Manufacturer: Joseph Henry Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0309069998

Book Description

Facing the Unexpected presents the wealth of information derived from disasters around the world over the past 25 years. The authors explore how these findings can improve disaster programs, identify remaining research needs, and discuss disaster within the broader context of sustainable development.

How do different people think about disaster? Are we more likely to panic or to respond with altruism? Why are 110 people killed in a Valujet crash considered disaster victims while the 50,000 killed annually in traffic accidents in the U.S. are not? At the crossroads of social, cultural, and economic factors, this book examines these and other compelling questions.

Book Description

The Earth Transformed answers the need for a concise, non-technical introduction to the ways in which the natural environment has been and is being affected by human activities. It is simply and engagingly written, and illustrated with maps, diagrams, figures and photographs.Among the subjects described and considered by the authors are desertification, deforestation, wetland management, biodiversity, climatic change, air pollution, the impact of cities on climate and hydrology, erosion, salinization, waste disposal, sea level rise, marine pollution, coral reef degradation and aquaculture.The book is organized around 45 case studies taken from all parts of the globe and chosen for their intrinsic interest and representative nature. Further features of the book include guides to further reading, suggestions for debate and study, and a glossary of terms.The book is aimed to meet the needs of students beginning courses on environmental science and geography.

Antarctic Ecosystems: Environmental Contamination, Climate Change, and Human Impact (Ecological Studies)

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Antarctic Ecosystems: Environmental Contamination, Climate Change, and Human Impact (Ecological Studies)
R. Bargagli
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Accessories:

Neoproterozoic Geobiology and Paleobiology (Topics in Geobiology)
Terrestrial Ecosystems in a Changing World (Global Change - The IGBP Series)
Desert Dust in the Global System

ASIN: 3540220917

Book Description

Choice Outstanding Title! (January 2006)

The image of Antarctica as a symbol of the last great wilderness and pristine environment has changed considerably in the last two decades. Environmental problems such as the ozone hole and the break-up of ice-shelves have shown that Antarctica is inextricably linked to global processes and exposed to the impact of human activities in the rest of the world. This volume provides an overview of climate change data, its effects on the structure and functioning of Antarctic ecosystems, and the occurrence and cycling of persistent contaminants. It discusses the unique physico-chemical characteristics of the Antarctic environment, ecophysiological adaptations of terrestrial and marine organisms, the transfer of contaminants in pelagic and neritic food chains and the possible consequences for animals at higher trophic levels. The text concludes with possible future scenarios of climate change and atmospheric contamination and the role of Antarctic organisms in the early detection of environmental perturbations.

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